Monthly Archives: December 2010
Update for 12/29/10
New review for To Share is to Divide by Nick Soucek. You may have noticed that I’ve been absent a lot lately, which is because I didn’t get back to the family until Christmas Day and due to the generally lazy feel of the holiday week. I’ll probably keep it up, frankly, until next Monday, with chances of other reviews being thrown in here and there. Don’t hold your breath though, as I kind of want to recharge for the new year. I’ll have plenty of new comics to add to the store, many many reviews I need to get to, and there’s still that gigantic Alex book I hope to get to next Tuesday. Plenty to discuss in the new year, in other words, but I may be mostly absent here until then. If that’s how if plays out, enjoy the holiday, or don’t, depending on your preference.
Soucek, Nick – To Share is to Divide
To Share is to Divide
The ability to recognize when you’re being too melodramatic is often missing from autobiographical small press types, so it was heartening to see Nick take himself to task for it after a few pages of increasing melodrama. Nick is feeling sad and goes back to some hurtful things said by his last girlfriend (?), then off to ruminations about how he’ll be forever alone. Then the self-awareness returns and he seems to get that he’s wallowing, and the comic gains a little insight because of it. Nick rents a boat, goes off in search of time to think and ends up in the belly of a giant fish. It ends up being a fairly hopeful comic (without giving too much away), and ends up breaking through some fairly conventional “I’ll never be loved” territory. Why are there no comics in this genre for women? I’m sure there are some out there, but the vast majority of it I see is from guys. Because women have an easier time getting into relationships than shy guys? Let’s just go with that, even if it does feel a little like a stereotype. Anyway, Nick makes a few insightful observations about the process, and it’s certainly easy to see why it’s so common to get discouraged. Check it out if you like these types of stories but maybe want to see a bit of a twist for once. No price, so let’s say $3 and hope for the best.
Update for 12/23/10
New review for X-Mas Afro by Tom Cherry, as I couldn’t resist the holiday theme even though I would have a very easy time resisting the holiday itself. This will most likely be it for me for a few days, barring a sudden blizzard or something. Have a happy whatever you’re doing over the weekend!
Cherry, Tom – X-Mas Afro
X-Mas Afro
Who else out there hates Christmas? There, now that everybody else has left the review I can talk to the few remaining cranks out there. The holiday bugs the hell out of me. So, so many reasons not to like it, but even I’m not totally without a heart, and I am capable of getting something fairly cute and amusing in the mail and still getting a chuckle out it. It’s the story of… oh come on, you can read that cover. The man can’t afford a tree, so he makes use of his natural asset. All is going swimmingly until he decides to plug in the Christmas lights. If you’ve enjoyed Tom’s previous comics then I’d recommend this one, or even if you just like the holiday. If you are even one step above me in your hatred of the holiday, I’d avoid it like the plague, but you know that already, as you’re probably in hibernation until the stupid thing is over with. Either way, it’s a measly $.25.
Update for 12/22/10
New review for Beloved by E.S. Fletschinger. Sorry about missing Top Shelf Tuesday yesterday, but the only book I have left from them is the gargantuan Alec collection from Eddie Campbell and, even though I’ve read most of it in various other forms over the years, I didn’t want to rush through it. Maybe next week or, holidays being what they are, maybe the week after that. I can already tell you that you should use your Christmas money to buy a copy, if you’re curious.
Fletschinger, E.S. – Beloved
Beloved
It must be the holiday season, because my usually cold and unfeeling heart was in the perfect mood for something heartwarming when I read this. E.S. says this is his first mini, in which case kudos, as it’s expertly paced and drawn. This is the story of an old man who has just lost his significant other and who is, understandably, in a bit of a funk. He eventually decides to go the route of online dating, deals with the usual nonsense one will find if they don’t know what they’re doing (or, in a lot of cases, even if they do) and ends up with an agreement to meet somebody. Any more that I say would just be unfair, although I already did give away the “heartwarming” part, right? Eh, that could mean anything. It’s short and mostly wordless, but it’s exactly the right size for the story it tells, and that’s all you can ask out of a comic. Well, that and it’s entertaining and/or informative, and this one wins on that front as well. Check it out already, give this whippersnapper some incentive to keep the comics coming. No price, but I’d guess a maximum of $5 and will post any actual price if I receive it.
Update for 12/20/10
New review for Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz, and I do have a few more international books but this one is due back at the library soon and it was too good not to review. Um, not to give away my opinion or anything…
Wertz, Julia – Drinking at the Movies
Where to even begin? It’s cheating for me to just say that this is fantastic and leave it at that, right? Crap. This covers the time between the summer of 2007 and the end of 2008, as Julia decided to move to New York after all the things keeping her in San Francisco fell away at once. Parts of it seem to be taken from her “Fart Party” comic and maybe another mini or two, but I’m far too lazy to go back and check which parts. Most of it seemed new to me, and I do try to keep an eye on this sort of thing. The book even almost has an uplifting ending, although I’m sure Julia would hate to hear that, as she seems to more or less give up the drinking and get on with a few more “adult” responsibilities. In the meantime we get to see her drunken year and a half in all its glory. There’s the random nature of her move (hilariously explained as her natural propensity to always take the difficult path), how bums seem to gravitate to her and how she can’t seem to hold a job. There’s her oddly happy home life and the fact that she gets along with her whole family, even though an older brother has had some trouble unrelated to her. Yes, drinking at the movies does take place, and it seems to take place fairly often. Do they serve liquor at the movies or does she smuggle it in? The world may never know; I know some places are smart enough to serve liquor with their movies. Other highlights (out of about 190 pages, so I’m cutting this list extremely short) include her odd ability to quiet a baby, the various ways she gets fired from her jobs and her utter lack of sadness about any of them, her hobo-like appearance and the fact that she only uses three outfits, her childlike eating habits, being ignored by obnoxious assholes who hit on everyone else, and, of course, drunken shenanigans. I read a chunk of comics on her website that seem to indicate some serious maturing going on in some ways, but her stuff is still hilarious as ever, so no worries there. Something about a tv adaptation of “Fart Party” was mentioned in this, but I haven’t seen anything about it since, which would be a shame. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t see a way that it wouldn’t fall apart on television (unless maybe it was an IFC and she had a serious hand in the creative aspect), but it would have made for some excellent comics. There also don’t seem to be any minis in her store, which is odd, but all her books are available and you get special bonus goodies for ordering them from her. If you’ve avoided her comics so far because maybe you don’t like unconnected but fantastically funny comics, this one has a more or less coherent storyline, so your excuses are over. Buy it and be happy. $15
Update for 12/19/10
New review for Kus! #8 by various international artists, but for the purpose of this international week I’ll point out that a good chunk of them are from Latvia.
Various Interational Comics – Kus! #8
Kus! #8
Is the world ready for an anthology based on allotment gardening? Well, considering the fact that the world doesn’t seem to be ready for small press comics in general and it seems like a bit of a moot point, doesn’t it? Still, those of you reading this are probably inclined to give it a try, so don’t run away based on what seems like boring subject matter. The great thing about these anthologies is the wide range of colors, styles and cultural backgrounds, so at the very least you’re bound to find at least parts of this book gorgeous. That being said, honestly, to me the subject matter was often a little dull. Granted, this is a wildly creative group of people who took the subject into unexpected areas, but chunks of it didn’t do a lot for me. Highlights include Ruta Briede’s painted piece about a growing garden gnome, Sabine Moore’s hungry carrot, Malin Biller’s heartbreaking tale of family life contrasted with the happiness of vacations, Yoshi’s Garden Gnome Liberation Front, Irkus Zeberio and Hitler’s doubles, James Turek with some useful advice for long-distance murdering, and Lai Tat Tat Wing’s cautionary tale of the future. The highlight of the comic was again the manga portion by Hironori Kikucki, as he drifted off while contemplating the subject matter and came up with something completely different and fantastic. I’m guessing the translating errors are unintentional, but they add an extra layer of funny to the whole thing. According to his bio he mostly does stories for teenagers, but he should really consider branching out into the small press world where he can get creative. All told it’s far from an awful anthology, but I wouldn’t list it as one of the greats either. If you’re looking to explore the international world of comics this is a great place to get a number of names and contact information, if you’re already a regular reader of this series this is the one I’ve seen so far that you could maybe get away with skipping. Then again, it’s only $8 for 111 colorful pages, so it’s up to you.
Update for 12/17/10
New review for Gin Palace #2 edited by Rob Jackson, who currently resides in Bolton, United Kingdom. I may or may not have time to get reviews together over the weekend, as I seem to be coming down with another of those miserable winter bugs. If not, the international flavor may carry over into next week, as I still have a few that need to get posted. Oh, and the online store is absolutely, positively working again, so any orders placed before Wednesday will get to you before Christmas, and I’ll foot the bill for the extra postage necessary to make it so. It’s my little gift to all of you! Well, not all of you, but at least those of you who order comics from me in the next few days…
Jackson, Rob (editor) – Gin Palace #2
Gin Palace #2
That Rob Jackson, he has to be one of the hardest working guys in comics today. Well, small press comics anyway, as those guys with Marvel and DC have a monthly schedule to keep up, but you know what I mean. The first Gin Palace was a success, and this one follows it up nicely. Don’t be alarmed with the familiarity of my using first names here, and check the tags so see exactly who they are if you’re unclear. Francesca starts things off with a story about how awesome it was to go out to a bar with her dad when she was very young, Andrew has a story about a black dog rib that flew right over my head, Rob has a lovely tale involving a black hole and a robot that became a god, John/Sean has a story about living with a serious regret even though things aren’t all that bad as they are (probably the highlight of the comic), Paul has an excellent mish mish of family drama, Dave tells the story of a pumpkin competition that goes too far, Pete has a great piece about a grandson being tricked into pursuing a career in science, Sin-Cat (I’m guessing that’s the name the creator goes by too, at least judging from the back cover) has another wandering tale that hits and occasionally misses, Jarod deals with his tricky future self, Brad gives us instructions to build our own intelligent robot cubehead, and Barry has a fairly straightforward story about revenge until the ending. What else do you want to know? Any comic with Rob Jackson, Dave Hughes, John Robbins and Brad Foster gets my vote, and this one has more than a few great stories besides that bunch. Buy it why don’t you? $6ish
Update for 12/16/10
New review for Two Eyes of the Beautiful #2 by Ryan Cecil Smith, currently living in Hyogo-ken, Japan.
Smith, Ryan Cecil – Two Eyes of the Beautiful #2
Two Eyes of the Beautiful #2
Huzzah for a second issue! I got the first one a while ago (please don’t ask me to remember exact dates when I received comics) and loved it, and this issue only solidifies that love. Right away you should be able to tell by that cover if you’ll be interested. You have an angry dog, a melting face, a chainsaw and a pair of scared eyes. Draws you right in. I should also mention that this is based on a manga called “Blood’s Baptism” by Umczu Kazuo that is apparently unavailable in English, so kudos to Ryan for putting out his own take on this. Things start off with an excellent two page recap of the previous issue, something more people should do, but regular readers already know my thoughts on that subject. From there we see the mother reminiscing about her beautiful past, then catching a stray dog and dragging him to the attic (past her hiding and terrified daughter Sarah). Sarah thinks this may be a dream, but the blood dripping from the ceiling convinces her. She somehow manages to fall asleep and wakes up to it all being cleaned up, but her mom still has the marks on her arms from where the dog lashed out. Sarah decides that it’s time to get serious, so she goes through an elaborate process to get ready for the day. Yes, I used one of them for the sample, as it’s so quintessentially manga that I couldn’t help using one of the few non-creepy or violent pages. So Sarah works up the courage to check out the attic after her mom goes out and finds… I’m giving too much away again, aren’t I? Dammit. The last issue of this series was creepy as could be, this one actually ups the ante and ads “disgusting” to the mix. The few printing problems I noticed the last time around are gone now and the art is fantastic, just absolutely perfect for the story. There’s one more issue in this series coming, so you should really get the first couple now so you’ll be ready. Assuming you like this sort of thing, I guess, but who doesn’t like tense and creepy manga? $5ish
Update for 12/15/10
New review for an international anthology based out of Australia called Blackguard #2.
Various International Anthologies – Blackguard #2
Blackguard #2
When they say this is 18+, they are not fucking around. Just a warning to all you sensitive souls out there. This is a collection of stories about Dads, featuring that list of names on the cover (seriously, click on it to check it out if you want, I’m not going to type them all here). As you might expect, very few of these stories are positive, and most of them aren’t true, but they are funny stories. Highlights include Neal Blanden’s story about not being able to visit his mother for the last two months of her life because his Dad was seeing another woman, Dexter Cockburn (a hilariously fake name) and his story about a Dad helping out with an “adventure club” and his noticing how one of the girl members has blossomed, Glenn Smith and his litany of Dads throughout history, Julie Doye and her Dad’s new teeth, Anton Emdin with his “Deadbeat Dad” strips (which, if there were any justice in the world, would be in newspapers across the globe), Mike Diana playing with the concept of a Dad and his two-way mirror, Ryan Vella with the shortest “Tales From the Crypt” story ever, Chris Mikul with one of the few seemingly true stories in the book, and Lark with a brilliant bit of father/son bonding. There’s also an accurate table of contents (I bitch when it isn’t present, so I should praise when it is, right?), a series of reviews on other minis, and plenty of other fair to great stories in here that I haven’t mentioned to save you some surprises. No idea on the price of this thing, as the website doesn’t have a listing, but I’d have to say at least $7 for the fancy front and back cover and the sheer size of the thing. Contact the website, why don’t you, and you should also go there because the guy apparently spends a lot of time reviewing comics and such, which I clearly think is a good use of free time.
Update for 12/14/10
Top Shelf Tuesday fits my theme week! New review for Hey Princess by Mats Jonsson, currently residing in Stockholm, Sweden.
Jonsson, Mats – Hey Princess
Sorry about crappy sample image, but this book is small (in size, not the number of pages) and dense, so I didn’t feel like cracking the spine for what probably still wouldn’t be a good sample image. Top Shelf has a few decent sample images if you’d like to see it a bit clearer. So what’s this all about? It’s the story of Mats from early 2003, when he was first starting college to just about 2000. He has a steady job for the vast majority of this hefty 479 page book, so that’s out as a source of conflict. Luckily he has a hell of a time with the ladies, and that subject is mined beautifully. It helps when the author has no qualms about being honest even when it makes him look bad, and Mats clearly has no such qualms. He starts off with a girl who already has a boyfriend (not that that stops him, but oh, the guilt), falls for another girl who says that she’s incapable of falling in love, gets with her friend when that doesn’t work out, and generally looks downright pathetic in the process. Well, he looks pathetic in hindsight, and how many of us can honestly say that some part of our romantic past doesn’t look pathetic these days? That’s what I thought. Anyway, he eventually falls deeply in love with a girl he meets at a music festival before the age difference and the physical distance between their homes takes a toll. Yes, that’s as far as I’m willing to go with the details. I will say that the cover gives the impression of a blissfully happy couple and, while there were a few of those moments in this book, overall it doesn’t paint that picture a bit. Other highlights include his honest appraisal of whether or not he was really exactly like his nemesis, the wannabes and fakes of all walks of life, whether or not he WAS one of those wannabes, lots of drinking, and getting trapped in a relationship with a suicidal girl. It’s unflinchingly honest (either that or he has a fetish of making himself look bad) and good luck putting this beast down once you get started. Even if you’ve managed to become jaded and sick of the autobio genre, you’ll still get plenty out of this pile of brilliance. #14.95
Update for 12/13/10
It’s time for another international comics week, as the things are piling up. Along with comics from around here, but that’s another story. New review for Enter Out by John Robbins, currently of Dublin, Ireland.
Robbins, John – Enter Out
Enter Out (“with” Sean Mac Roibin)
It’s lazy as hell to post the description given by the author on the back of his book for the contents of said book. I get that, and I will post my thoughts here in a moment, but this is too good for me to pass up and it sums it all up so much better than I will, so: “Mutually overlapping dreams resonate into the waking lives of two friends. Physicality violently communicates a couple’s finance-related despair. Remedies for loneliness and frustration are sought in odd places. Meat.” I could write a few thousand words on this and never hit on anything better. First things first: this book is backwards. Basically that means to take the title literally and start at the back cover and work your way forwards, reading the panels right to left (although the “top to bottom” formulation still applies.) Once you get that out of the way you’ll notice that the description I listed (that I didn’t read until I was done because it was on the front, meaning the back, cover) doesn’t mention that the listed happenings bleed over into each other and it all ends up being connected. There’s also one of those guys with the dreams who wakes up with blood on his hands, someone else wit h the ability to get words by squeezing the balls of a man with a donkey head, a floating doll head and a clown, but I suppose John didn’t want to give everything away on the back. I’m all for innovation in the small press comics world (or pretty much anywhere) and this one fits that bill in spades. I guess you could argue that the backwards setup is a gimmick, but you’d be wrong, or if you are right it certainly doesn’t read that way. It accentuates the mix-up that is the lives of all these people and the increasingly strange but distinct things that are happening to all of them. Much of John Robbins work could easily fall into the “fucking brilliant” category, and this is definitely on that list. $3
